Quattroporte III catch-all thread

The glass headlamps on euro cars are Carello 614. They were very hard to find when I had to buy some about 5 years ago.

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The fiberglass trim around the lights is also euro-only and not a shared part with North American QPIIIs.

 

Anyone have experience modifying an American spec to make the Euros fit? I do not know enough as to the differences between them - I do not think I have been around a Euro spec one in person before.. But, I have a talented paint/body guy and I can maybe have him work with what I have. Your input is welcomed.

 

Search around the threads here in this forum. A user named William Abraham did posts documenting doing the same US to euro headlight conversion you are considering.

 

but looks 10x better than the square American lights! Is it the same as on the Biturbos? It looks very similar. Fiat 127 used one of them. Should be easy to find....

 

You can fit them, but you need to change the surround and the back brackets. I think US lights are ugly as hell. All Maseratis should look like the euro version. That is their correct design.

 

I have a line on a complete set of Euro headlights along with mounting brackets and bucket surrounds… I am enthusiastic about getting them sometime in the next 10-12 days or so.

I’ve already had my bumpers tucked in the last time I redid the car in 2014-2017… I also bought last week from Mr. Fiat some Ferrari 308 amber/white turn signal lenses for a very competitive price.

Work commitments have me losing my marbles, but I may start a thread at some point documenting my long standing ordeal with my car - with the original shop tasked to do the work when I first bought it in 2014, the upholsterer, life changes, and last year the hood opening while I was driving after getting it roadworthy 3 years prior, but wreaking havoc on the poor car.

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/quattroporte-iii-catch-all-thread.328560/page-19


Page 19 of this thread from 2013… thank you! I’m usually posting on the Ferrari side as I redid mine in 2013-2015 and still have it. So, I have a lot of catching up to do with this side of the forum.

 

Little update. Asked for some assistance probably 3 some years ago, about a QP3 that had been sitting for 20 years.

Just last weekend, made it to a French/Italian car show, here in Los Angeles. It's been a lot of work, but I'm loving the car!
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I want to publicly express my unbelievable gratitude to this fellow forum member - Boy a/k/a "maseratiquattroporteiii" - for his incredible efforts at sourcing a complete set of Euro lenses with brackets and headlight buckets for me! Boy selflessly took the time to communicate with an old school vendor who did not have them openly for sale, managed to drive about an hour each way to see them firsthand, and then - only on the word of our communications - purchase them for me... Upon his insistence that I only pay him without any markup and taking into account shipping expenses, Boy then carefully and throughly packed the entire package better than a seasoned pro at FedEx, and shipped them to me stateside. They arrived safe and sound last night, and I am so floored by this experience.

This individual is one of the most genuine, helpful, selfless, and honest people I have ever met. It restores my faith that the world is still full of good people out there, united by a common bond of older cars, and the willingness to go out of their way to help a fellow enthusiast with their quest to seek hard-to-find parts. I persisted on paying extra for all of his time, but Boy is so humble and kind that he steadfastly refused to accept anything beyond the actual costs of everything, as he simply was motivated with the belief that not only would I absolutely have done the same for him, but to/for anyone else! Good karma overall (and I sent Boy more anyhow)! Many of us can use a good story around this time of the year and get to hopefully have similiar experiences with others out there.

Aside from this unique generosity to me, he happens to own of the most stunningly beautiful Quattroporte's in the planet...

 

OttoB...

Very nice story !!! It is good to hear these kinds of things this time of year...

Did maseratiquattroporteiii ever post any pics of his car??? He may have and I just don't remember...
If not, perhaps he would!

Mike

 

Thank you for the kind words and your generosity! I combined the trip with having a fun day out with my girlfriend and getting some other parts so it was a win/win situation. I'm always happy to help and looking forward to see the European headlights on your car. I will have dinner on you very soon!

 

What a cool story! I also look forward to see before and after pics... Which cars do you have? Any chance you could upload some pictures of them?

 

I have never posted any pictures and i don't have alot on my laptop. I do made some Youtube video's about my car. Driving it and showing it.

I have owned it for around 2 years i believe and bought it from someone who imported it from Italy to the Netherlands. The previous owner imported it in 2017 and also had a Kyalami so he was a real enthousiast. I later found a video where he is telling about his kyalami and you can see my quattroporte next to it in the garage.

I was looking at the quattroporte and was thinking about buying an 80's luxury car like a Rolls-Royce or something but then found quattroporte iii. As a 24 year old I haven't grown up with these cars and sadly never seen them in the streets/showroom. My father and family are classic car enthousiast and I work parttime at my fathers garage where we do alot of classic car work and restorations. My father always dreamed about the quattroporte and he even tried to buy one at auction at the gallery once. They have done some sales of restoration projects and he bid on one car and then someone added one 0 to much... The car sold for 50.000 euro's i believe so that was a bit much for a restoration project 10 years ago. I have no clue if that bidder actually had to pay that amount tough. I first looked online at automatics and never even considered a manual one. My dad said to me that that you better buy the best one you can afford with these luxury cars because restoring is no fun for the wallet. He asked someone we know who knows alot of people with classic cars if he knew someone with a quattroporte and to our suprise he did. The car turned around to be in amazing condition and rustfree.

I found out that the qp3 was originally sold to Fransesco Masellis in Bologna. He was a factory owner/vice president from MAB Masellis Industriale (This later became ASSA Abloy) and he bought the car in 1985. It has a manual transmission (1/262) and the dashboard covering is wood wich is mostly is made of suede in later cars so that is also a bit odd/special i guess. It has only done 53000 km's and the interior is in almost mint condtion. In my ownership i gave the engine some TLC as i checked the valve clearance, checked timing, changed all the oils, painted the valve covers and replaced all the gaskets and filters, ultrasonic cleaned the carbs and tuned the carbs. The car felt a bit underwelming for 280hp when i first drove it but now the carbs are propely tuned it gives you a kick in the back again. Funny how the carbs make such a difference. Anyhow if still have some minor things that will make it perfect as i need to fill the AC (It has the old system i believe), fix the electric mirrors and fix the oil temperature sensor (I already have a replacemend but can only do that when the Oil is out).

I don't drive the car as often as i should but when you press that accelerator it always brings a big smile on your face. That sound is just wonderfull! People always stare at the car like it is an UFO and it is a design that will age like fine wine. People will literally stop walking and stare at the car, also got alof of compliments when you bring it to car shows. I do find that driving the manual is something that is getting used to and it is not a car that you will do some quick groceries with. My dad had a 911 from 1985 also and these are cars that you have to warm up and "get used to" but when you are used to it then you will really enjoy the drive. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
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Hi. I am Erik and have done a few posts in here. Previously, I owned two Quattroporte IIIs and still miss them. But I REALLY want something unique if I am to dig one up again. So two years ago, I wanted to check more around the longer "stretch" versions done in Italy. There was very little to find out avout them on the internet. I found out that the Italian coachbuilder "Salvatore Diomante" who made them was actually not far away from the autostrada when driving from Monaco to Oslo, if I drove through the Swiss alps instead of the more western route past Lyon in France. So as it still was a Covid restrictions in France, I decided to go back to Norway (my native country) with my 550 Maranello, and made a stop and visited Salvator Diomante among other places. I got to meet the "old man" who was still at work at a considerable age! Non of them was speaking English... only Italian. Not alot of car work that day, but I got an example of the original "mini brochure" for the Quattroporte III in long version. For some readon, I believe this brochure is about as rare as a brochure can get.... Only two cars were build. Both white with white interiors. Many special features such as rotating front passenger seat. Both delivered to Bahrain in the United Arabic Emirates. He had also an album of other Quattroporte III pictures of their custom work. Pretty heavily customised cars. And those pictures is coming here right now. Hope you enjoy them.

Best,
Erik
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We have alot of different cars but i will name a few! 3x a Citroën DS, Porsche 944, Porsche 944 turbo, Porsche 911 1985, Volvo 262 Bertone, Citroën CX (alot of these and alof in bad shape) Mercedes 300CE manual, Volvo 264, Citroën 2cv and the Maserati quattroporte of course. The quattroporte is mine and the porsche 944 turbo is with my dad. We are currently replacing the rear engine seal, what a job.... Porsche made it as hard as possible to replace that unfortunately. Alot of these cars are projects / almost finished and we are currently trying to finish them and sell some. It is better to have a few cars that are in very good/perfect condition wich you can enjoy than alof of projects. We sadly already sold a Citroën SM project, i hope we some day can buy one back in good conditon. Would have loved to have driven one

 

Really cool to see! Must have cost a fortune to buy when new. I wonder where these cars are now, probably under alot of dust in a parking lot/basement. I think they would have sold alot more if it had more televions in it

 

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Amazing! Is it silver og ice blue (Azzurro)? That interior is just soooo beautiful.

 

Thank you, yes! Grigio Azurro, looks like grey but if you see it in the sun it has a blue tint in it

 

We have a Royale in Norway in that color. It has cream interior. And manual transmission. What would a car like that be worth internationally? I want to buy it.

 

I would love to one day own a royale and I personally like the white interior even more. As there were only around 40-50 made of the royale prices vary alot. I have seen one for sale for 50k a while ago from japan and it sold I believe. But if you look at recent auctions a few sold around 30k. The last one sold at 29k including fees at a french auction, also a manual but it needed mechanical work. It suprises me that the royales don’t sell for alot more than a good manual on auction. But don’t be surprised if the seller wants 50k for it or more. I think that if it is a really good car it will be worth around 50k or even more. It is really what someone will give for it as there is no selling competition. But if you want to sell it then you need alot of patience. Is the car currently for sale?

 

Ok thanks for the info. No it has never been for sale in the market. It was bought new here in Oslo by a very rich shipping magnate in 1987 after the same man had owned a standard QP III with automatic transmission for a while. The current owner has had it for about thirty years. I will report back if I manage to buy it.

 

So, I have a small problem now, where what appears to be a canister purge valve is running after I turn the car off and take the key out. I thought they just opened or closed, but this has a little fan in it. There are two of them, they sit right at the front of the air box, one on top of the other. Charles Austen made them. I have changed the relay. The vacuum line goes from the canisters to these solenoids, then into the air box. I am trying to figure out where they get their signal from. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

can you post a picture of them? I believe this is unique for the US models.

 

Of course, here’s a wide and close shot for reference.
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